Two concise syntheses of (+/-)-frondosin B (1), an interleukin-8 receptor antagonist, have been achieved from commercially available 5-methoxysalicylaldehyde. The seven-membered ring in ketone 33, the common intermediate for both syntheses, was built by a classical Friedel-Crafts reaction. The key step of the first route was facile cationic cyclization of the vinylogous benzofuran to the trisubstituted olefin (30 --> 16 + 38) to construct a six-membered carbocycle. Although this route demonstrated the efficacy of the stepwise approach to the frondosin ring-system, it also resulted in olefinic isomers that were easily isomerized in acidic conditions. In the second route, we utilized a Diels-Alder reaction between sterically demanding diene 42 and nitroethylene to fix the double bond in its required position in the resultant dimethylcyclohexane ring. A third total synthesis was devised for the purpose of determining the absolute configuration of frondosin B. It reached diene 42, this time in the enantiomerically defined form. From this point, naturally configured frondosin B was obtained in the enantiomerically enriched form. These studies establish the absolute configuration of the secondary methyl center in frondosin B to be R.

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Branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) and their cognate α-ketoacids (BCKA) are elevated in an array of cardiometabolic diseases. Here we demonstrate that the major metabolic fate of uniformly-13C-labeled α-ketoisovalerate ([U-13C]KIV) in the heart is reamination to valine. Activation of cardiac branched-chain α-ketoacid dehydrogenase (BCKDH) by treatment with the BCKDH kinase inhibitor, BT2, does not impede the strong flux of [U-13C]KIV to valine. Sequestration of BCAA and BCKA away from mitochondrial oxidation is likely due to low levels of expression of the mitochondrial BCAA transporter SLC25A44 in the heart, as its overexpression significantly lowers accumulation of [13C]-labeled valine from [U-13C]KIV. Finally, exposure of perfused hearts to levels of BCKA found in obese rats increases phosphorylation of the translational repressor 4E-BP1 as well as multiple proteins in the MEK-ERK pathway, leading to a doubling of total protein synthesis. These data suggest that elevated BCKA levels found in obesity may contribute to pathologic cardiac hypertrophy via chronic activation of protein synthesis.

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